The Aviation Industry Employees’ Guild (AIEG) on Friday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the dismissal of two Air India cabin crew members, who had reported a technical fault in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft last year.
This development comes as Air India reels from the recent AI 171 Boeing 787 Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, which claimed the lives of at least 270 people, including 241 passengers and crew members.
Speaking to a news agency, AIEG General Secretary George Abraham said the Guild is demanding a CBI investigation into the termination of the two cabin crew members, alleging that Air India had pressured them to retract their statements about a technical fault in the aircraft.
“This poses a serious threat to aviation safety. We have also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking a fair and transparent probe into the matter,” Abraham said.
He added that the incident occurred on May 14, 2024, after an Air India flight from Mumbai to London reached its destination. A technical fault in the aircraft’s door reportedly caused the emergency slide rafts to deploy in manual mode.
According to Abraham, slide rafts should only be deployed when the door is in automatic (armed) mode. He stated that the pilot and the cabin crew initially confirmed the technical fault in their statements, but these were later allegedly altered under pressure from the airline’s management.
Abraham claimed that the two crew members were dismissed after they refused to change their statements. They subsequently lodged a complaint with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which conducted an “informal investigation” after summoning them to Delhi. However, even after eight months, no outcome has been shared, he noted.
Following the deadly Ahmedabad crash, Abraham said the issue has regained attention, prompting the Guild to renew its demand and write again to the Prime Minister. “This is why we have raised it once more. We hope that the investigation will now be expedited,” he added.
Responding to the allegations, Air India stated on Friday that the crew members were terminated for misconduct and for repeatedly falsifying critical information during the course of an internal investigation. “The investigation was launched after an emergency slide was activated while the aircraft door was being opened post-landing,” the airline said.
Slide rafts are designed to deploy when a door is opened in the “armed” or “automatic” mode. The crew had claimed the Dreamliner’s door had malfunctioned, as the raft deployed despite the door being opened in manual mode.
The incident occurred on May 14, 2024, after flight AI-129 from Mumbai to London had docked at Heathrow Airport and passengers had disembarked.
The two former senior cabin crew members have also written to Prime Minister Modi, alleging wrongful termination and asserting that they were punished for raising legitimate concerns about safety issues with the Dreamliner B787/8 series aircraft.
Their letter claimed that “the said accident was waiting to happen,” and that their repeated warnings about technical defects—particularly involving aircraft VT-ANQ—were ignored or downplayed by both Air India management and the DGCA.
They further alleged that they were pressured to alter their official statements, and when they refused, were dismissed without a proper inquiry.
“We fail to understand why only an informal discussion was held instead of a full-fledged, impartial inquiry by DGCA—the regulatory authority—despite the seriousness of the incident concerning passenger and crew safety,” their letter read.
Calling the Prime Minister their “last hope,” the crew members have sought his intervention to reinstate them and to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the Dreamliner’s safety record.